Why Are The Uniforms Of Nurses And Doctors Called Scrubs?

Posted on 09/20/2009 by nursing| 2 Comments

As the first answer says scrubs are what doctors and nurses wear in the operating theatre. I guess they are called that as both are required to ‘scrub’ themselves clean before entering the theatre to prevent disease and contamination.

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2 Responses to Why Are The Uniforms Of Nurses And Doctors Called Scrubs?

  1. rdenig_m | 09/20/2009 at 4:08 pm |

    Scrubs are the uniforms that are used in hospital theatres – these are different to the one worn in wards.

  2. TSM_908 | 09/20/2009 at 4:09 pm |

    If you think about it nurses and doctors “scrub” before performing surgery so doesn’t that make sense to you? Here is the definition of scrubs when used to describe why it is called that in the medical field.
    Main Entry: 2scrub
    Function: verb
    Inflected Form(s): scrubbed; scrub·bing
    Etymology: of Low German or Scandinavian origin; akin to Middle Low German & Middle Dutch schrubben to scrub, Swedish skrubba
    transitive verb
    1 a (1) : to clean with hard rubbing : SCOUR (2) : to remove by scrubbing b : to subject to friction : RUB
    2 : WASH 6c(2)
    3 : CANCEL, ELIMINATE
    intransitive verb
    1 : to use hard rubbing in cleaning
    2 : to prepare for performing surgery by scrubbing oneself
    - scrub·ba·ble /’skr&-b&-b&l/ adjective